The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against one of the world's biggest spam gangs.

An emergency court order granted under the suit should see the network of websites the spammers ran shut down.

The attorney general alleges that ringleader Leo Kuvayev and six others in the spam gang sent millions of messages to drive people to the sites.

Offered for sale on the websites were pornography, pills, pirated software and fake fancy watches.

Fake pharmacy

So far no formal charges have been filed against Mr Kuvayev and his colleagues who are thought to be behind the two companies, 2K Services Ltd and Ecash Pay Ltd, that sent all the spam.

Instead Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly sought a court order to shut down the websites operated by the group to help protect consumers from harm.

The numbers are staggering. Leo Kuvayev and the other members of his so-called 'Internet Spam Gang' are unleashing millions of unsolicited messages on consumers every day

Tom Reilly, Massachusetts Attorney General

"This type of spam is more than just an annoyance to consumers," said Mr Reilly. "It poses a real danger to people who may be fooled into buying counterfeit versions of prescription drugs or unwittingly open e-mail links to sexually explicit websites."

The trail that led to Mr Kuvayev and his colleagues was followed through a series of websites which often changed address and were hosted on servers in several different countries.

The group was also hard to track down because many of the millions of messages sent out were routed through a network of affiliates that handled orders and payment processing.

The investigation into Mr Kuvayev and colleagues was continuing.

The legal action was taken in Massachusetts because Mr Kuvayev has a home in the state and the companies operated by the seven defendants use a Boston-based PO box for correspondence.

However, Mr Kuvayev is now thought to be in Russia.

In a statement, Mr Reilly said: "The numbers are staggering. Leo Kuvayev and the other members of his so-called 'Internet Spam Gang' are unleashing millions of unsolicited messages on consumers every day."

Under the lawsuit Mr Reilly wants the defendants fined for breaking state and national laws outlawing spam. He also wants them to repay people who lost money because of the huge amounts of spam mail that was sent.